Hella Good
by Coffeemecrazy
Summary: It was a truth universally acknowledged, that I, Alice had a sort of ESP thing going on. And so, when I met Vasper Hale, of course I saw him coming. AU -all human-
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

It was a truth universally acknowledged that when a boy turned bad, his schmex appeal suddenly shot up by about eight hundred percent. It was another truth universally acknowledged, that I had a sort of ESP thing going on. And so, when I met Vasper Hale, of course I saw him coming. And I knew, even if he didn't.

The night was dark, and the sky clear, littered with stars. It was quiet, and it was peaceful, and I didn't even turn when I heard his car pull up behind me. the door opened and slammed shut, the sound muffled by the cool breeze.

I still didn't turn around, only closed my eyes and imagined him, hair an unruly mess, dressed in the same tuxedo I had caught fleeting glimpses of tonight.

He cleared his throat, but I still didn't turn around. "You've kept me waiting a long time."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." I wasn't even startled by the baritone, half an octave lower than the one I had been expecting to hear.

"He sent you." I thought it ironic, my boyfriend sending his best friend over.

"Hence the sorry." It was typical of James, to avoid me and right after we'd had a heated conversation about this sort of thing.

I blinked my tears away, looking up to the insanely tall Jasper, my hand held out. "Take me home."

And like the gentleman he was, he took my hand in his warm one, ignoring my sobs as he drove.

It was a truth universally acknowledged that a girl, even one with ESP was blind when she was in love. I was no exception.


	2. Chapter 2

Contrary to Shakespeare's belief, being woken up by what seemed like an awful lot of stones hurled at your windows was neither romantic nor particularly welcome. I flung the doors to my balcony open, fearlessly throwing myself into Juliet's role. "Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" I certainly had the fainting heroine part down pat, my silk dressing gown fluttering to the floor.

Standing out on my balcony, the white tiles were chilling my feet. It was odd, I thought, the hairs on my neck not standing up, even though this was how any good horror movie started. Any minute now, and a monster would –. I held that thought as the bush below my balcony rustled, the trellis shaking under a figure trying to climb it.

Bless.

"Jasper?" His figure was distinctive, slicked hair and fleece jacket as he cursed the overgrowth that was the ivy on my trellis.

Jaspers beautiful face looked up at me, cheeks colouring in the dim moonlight. "I – Alice." His voice was urgent, and I could make out the look of panic in his face even from two floors away. "I – _we _– need to go. Now."

I smiled, confused. "I don't understand. Why?"

His hand reached out to me, voice pleading. Something was wrong, and I didn't know what it was. It was scary and unnerving. Mainly scary. I didn't like uncertainties.

"Alice." He was still pleading, frame now solid and shoulders squared. There was also something else. The moonlight wasn't sufficient for me to see his face, in all it's pale glory, his sharp cheekbones and deep eyes. I niftily climbed down the trellis, ignoring his gasps of protests and worries.

"Jasper." I clung to him as he helped me down. Seeing as he was a beanpole, and I was not, I clung to him, relishing his warmth. It was his chin I saw first, when I looked up. And then his lips, and then his cheeks.

The moonlight shone off his face, my eyes adjusting to the dim light. Now, it wasn't so hard to see why he was scared. I gasped, reaching out to touched his mangled face.

He turned away. "It doesn't hurt."

Like hell. "And I'm Julie-freaking-et."

He smiled a little, then grimaced as if it hurt him to smile. I wasn't surprised that it did. He held out his hand again, and I took it without thinking. He was scared, as I had been, but here, hand in hand, I wasn't scared any longer. He had that kind of effect on people.

And so, without questions, without knowing why, I went with him.

We climbed into his car and peeled down the street. It was a beauty – fast and sleek, and black. And expensive. Jasper had clearly benefited from the my little stock market hunches. I smiled a little, despite the situation. Turning on the radio, my head beat along to the doof doof that bled through the speakers of Jasper's Aston Martin.

After what seemed like hours and hours, the car rolled to a halt. It was light now, but I was bone tired. "You need to sleep." Jasper looked at me, his face still a bloody mess.

I just looked at him, hopping out the car without a word and opening the boot. Triumphantly pulling out the first aid kit, I bounced back into the car and shut the door behind me. "Now –"

"I'm fine." He was still insisting.

"Well," I tilted my head. "We could do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Jasper was looking cautiously at me. "What's the hard way?"

My grin widened, as I leaned forward. "Guess." My voice was guttural, and so soft he had to lean forward to hear me.

"I'm not sure I want to." Our eyes were locked in a ferocious battle, as the James and the world faded away.

In that instant, I could read him. I could feel his fear, the feeling dark and consuming. I could feel his morose, the feeling small but consuming. But most of all, there was a lighting in his golden brown eyes, one that shone through the others, like a beacon at the end of a dark tunnel. It was hope. For the first time I had known him, Jasper felt hope.

I broke our eye contact first, leaning away from his warm presence. "I'll be gentle," I promised, soaking a pad of cotton wool in antiseptic.

"I know." He didn't hiss as the cold pad pressed gently against his dried up wound. He just stared at me, like I could disappear, like I was his centre of gravity. I avoided his gaze, afraid of being caught up in the moment again. Jasper and I, had a strange relationship. I didn't know what he was to me. He wasn't a friend, nor was he a stranger. He was just...Jasper, and seeing as I was his best friend's girlfriend, that was all he could ever be.

Jasper was being a very good patient, and I said so. His lips lifted a little, though they had been pressed together so tightly they had turned white. As I packed away, flinging the kit to the back of the car somewhere, Jasper put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and my heart wrenched.

Even injured, he was beautiful. Reaching out to lightly trace his cuts, I smiled sadly. They would scar.

"I've had worse." Jasper didn't need to remind me, but he did anyway, just to comfort me.

"I know." I reassured him.

"It doesn't hurt." He told me gently, as he pulled off his jacket. Now, I know he was just trying to reassure me. The jacket was now in my lap. "Sleep."

I didn't want to, but my eyes were closing voluntarily, as I snuggled into the still warm fleece jacket.

Within moments, my eyes closed, and never opened, golden eyes invading my dreams.

When my eyes opened again, the moment would be less serene.

The car was revving again, Jasper still looking composed. The sweat beading down his forehead and erratic steering gave him away.

"Jasper? What's happening?" I was bleary, my words sticking to the roof of my mouth. I didn't need ESP to know that something was clearly not right.

"Alice. Go back to sleep. It's fine." His words were short, his jaw clenching and unclenching with each syllable.

"Jasper?" There was no reply. "Jazz? Please." I laid my hand on his arm, and he stiffened before relaxing. Everything was on edge. "Jazz?" My voice was small - but not because I was scared. I was worried - what had got him on edge like this?

He said nothing for a long while, just drove and drove until we were lost.

"Jazz? Jazz?" His phone had been ringing incessantly for the past hour, but he hadn't made any more to switch it off, and I didn't know if it was important or not, so I didn't do anything. It was James. But this time, as we rolled to a stop, Jasper turned to me.

"Do you trust me?"

I just stared at him. "You know I do."

He looked at me. "Then you know this is for the best."

I held my breath. "I trust you," was all that came out. It seemed to be enough, fate tilting in the opposite direction of the future I had envisigned last night.

He answered the phone, grunting a few yeses and no, but mainly listening to his more dominant friend. When he had hung up without so much as a goodbye, he turned to me. "I tried." The engine revved and we zoomed off again.

I just looked at him, knowing that I would be asked again and again. "I know." It was what he had needed to hear, as he rolled up to a gas station. I hopped out, looking back at him. "Thank you Jazz." He only smiled a little, as I reached for my silk dressing gown. It was a hot morning, only promising to get hotter. California was like that. He caught my hand.

"For what it's worth, I told him not to."

I nodded. "I know." But James was James, and once he wanted something, nothing stood in his way. I stared at his face a bit longer, taking in his haunted eyes and wounded cheeks. If I could have frozen time, I would have. "Bye Jazz." I could tell that it would be a long time before I saw him again. And by then, he would be even more scarred, if not psychically then emotionally. As much as I didn't want that future to happen, it would.

He watched me click the car door closed, and wave him goodbye, speeding off. Sitting at the side of the dusty road, I waited and waited, and within a hour, James had me in his old, ratty pick up truck and was driving me home. "Your parents wondered where you were."

Right. My adoptive parents. "Oh." It didn't need to be said that while they loved each other, their love was limited, and didn't quite extend to me. I was just plain old Alice, and while I was grateful, it was nice to belong. With James, I had a sort-of family. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.

"I told them not to worry." I smiled a little. He got all serious now, taking his eyes of the road to look at me. "What was that, with Jazz?"

I just looked at him. "I don't know - you tell me." This game was boring, but necessary for self preservation. I knew what they had fought about - control. Power. The same old thing. In a city like Compton, turf was power, and while Jazz was the best fighter in the gang, James was the leader.

James smiled at me, almost predatory. "Alice." He liked me using my skill, a little too much. Sometimes, it scared me. This was one of those times. "Jazz and I just had a little fight. That's what brothers do." A shiver ran up and down my spine. "He thought something, and I thought something else."

My eyes watered from staring so hard. I could see it in James' eyes. It was about me. "What about?" Small words, loaded question.

"I think you can guess." He back to normal now, more playful, inner predator tucked away. "So, when we get back, care for a little flutter?"

I held my tongue, questions about what he had done with the last bundle we had won swirling around my head. "I'm tired, James." His left eyebrow lifted, as he sped up a little. I liked my cars fast, but under the heavy shifting of gears and the grinding of the motor, the fear I had when Jazz wasn't around gripped me. "James, slow down please." He didn't like no for an answer, and it showed. "James, please."

His eyes were on the road now, veins visible. "You know what I want to hear."

"I...I...Okay, I'll do it." He had a temper, that was his excuse. But, I knew that everything was going to be okay the minute I uttered those words.

He turned to face me again, his speed still the contending with the speed of light. "There. That's wasn't so hard, was it?"

I looked away form his piercing gaze, my eyes focused in front.

The things about the future, was that it was ever changing.

And in that moment, my carefully planned future disappeared. It shifted, and my life changed. My life, and all the possibilities flashed before my eyes as we collided with another van, the pick up flipping over and groaning on it's back.

"James -" I coughed, the smoke choking me. "James?" I could see him, struggling to get out. I tried to call out to him once more, to ask for help, but he had gone. And in the most uncomfortable position to sleep in - upside down - black greeted me.

My name was Alice. I just an ordinary girl, with an extra ordinary talent.

And when I woke up in the hospital, alone and recovering, I didn't know who I was, only that I wanted Jasper. I didn't know who he was, only what he looked like. And I knew just how to find him.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to bright lights. My first reaction was to reach out to hold the unknown hand that had been held up to be but there was no one there. Jasper was not there.

As I regained my consciousness, awareness of my surroundings kicked in. White. That was the first thought. Then the waves and waves of sound. The beeping of the machines, the humming of the fans. Everything in this room had an aim, knew its purpose. Well everything if you didn't count me. What was I doing here?

A nurse walked in, startled by my state of consciousness. "You're awake. I'll fetch a doctor."

I frowned as a headache started at the back of my head. It started as a dull ache, slowing building as my entire vision went fuzzy.

Throb.

A sympathetic looking doctor was smiling at me. But there was no one in the room. A picture flickered in and out of my mind

Throb.

There was another picture.

The doctor was trying to smile comfortingly, twenty years of his job showing through his dull skin. Stress was not good for your skin - that much was evident.

Throb.

He reached out to pat me.

As the pain subsided a little, my eyes flew open, and the golden eyes that I had woken up to brought me back. Well, this was an out of body experience if I had ever had one. How peculiar. Even in my state of unknowingness, I knew that this kind of thing was most certainly not common.

"Good Morning." Cheerful, far too cheerful considering the fact that I had either amnesia or was a Martian, with amnesia. It was then that I spotted the polystyrene cup of coffee and understood. Coffee good. It teased me from the end of this lump bed. He flipped open the chart, tapping his chin as he thought. It was a quirk I quite admired. "My name is Dr. Samuel. You are in the infirmary. How are you feeling?"

For some reason, I decided to ignore the headache and lie. "Great." My voice was cheerful and I knew that I must have been a great liar in my past life.

He was fussing with the machines beside my bed. "Do you remember anything at all? Your name?"

"I don't know." The words came out like a croak.

"Well..." The doctor tied to do that strange grimace again, like the one I had seen him do in my head, each throb of pain bringing a fresh new image. "Do you remember anything, anything at all?"

The doctor smiled, pouring me a glass of water. I took it gingerly, not sipping it. This was strange. Very strange. "Three months ago, you had an accident. You were a passenger. Paramedics found you trapped in the truck having had suffered a high impact blow to the head. You were brought here." Skimming the details. Hmmm.

"And this memory thing? Will it last?" Where was Jasper? Why was he not here?

"It is very likely; that with the kind of damage you had that recollection of your past life may take a long time. You just have to be patient." I wasn't sure if patience was a trait I possessed or not.

But...there was always a but.

"But what?"

The doctor stared at me. "There is a possibility that you may never regain your memory."

I tried to process all this information. "No one came for me?"

He patted me briefly. "Rest. Don't try..."

The pain in my head intensified as I echoed his words. "Don't try to move too soon to fast. Take it slow."

The doctor just stared at me again. His beeper broke our silence and intense eye contact. "I have to go. Think about what I said." The door clicked shut behind him.

Thinking about what he had said wasn't really an option. I stared at the white bars on the frosted windows of the white room. I sensed a theme. Who had I been in a past life? What had I done to be caged up like an animal, to be trapped in my own prison?

The door was locked; I knew that just by looking at the ominous metal that wasn't just there for decoration.

Throb.

The door was slightly open now.

Throb.

Security guards running, smoke.

Throb.

Dr Samuel was shouting, his mouth frozen in time, ash smeared over his face.

Throb.

Nothing but woods.

The throbbing stopped.

I sat and waited. And waited. Seconds passed, then minutes. These pictures...I didn't know what they were, only that they were a fact. I remembered reading a paper once, something about selective recall. The human mind was subjective, and memory – selective memory, was a human mechanism to protect. I frowned. Protect me against what?

The golden eyes came to mind. Jasper. As I focused on those eyes and slowly branched out, I recalled the shock of blonde hair, the straight nose, the sharp cheekbones and the strong jaw. This was different to those pictures I had seen. This was less sharp, but not vague. It was soft, less detailed. It wasn't something I could have made up. Jasper. No, he wasn't the danger. He was the answer.

I looked to the window again. It was sunny outside. When would what I has seen become true? It was only time, if my previous experience with the doctor was anything to go by.

I didn't wait long. Alarms sounded, loud and piercing. It was an almost welcome disturbance to the deathly quiet and machine beeps I had been forced to endure. Doors slammed outside, as people shouted. Panic. I sat on my bed, pulling off the wires that had been taped to me. It was liberating. The door clicked open. "Orderly line." The person shouted. I shuffled out slowly, my slippers making noises against the linoleum floor. It was cold.

As I followed the line moving silently but swiftly towards light that wasn't artificial, I smiled.

This was it.


	4. Chapter 4

True to my visions, I had not gotten outside until I had been pulled into a corner. I did not struggle. This was it. Security guards passed the dark alcove, not lit by the artificial light that was dotted around the cark corridors. Smoke filled the air, but I was not afraid.

"Quick. I don't have time to explain." Dr Samuel pulled out a set of clothes and shoes, proper shoes. I knew instantly that they were not what I had been used to, nor clothes I would have chosen, but well, I didn't really have a choice now, did I? "Put these on." I pulled on the clothes over my gown, saying nothing. Once I was dressed, he stared at me for the briefest second. I wondered why he kept on staring, before he lead me down the corridor and through a door. We were heading deeper into the building, which made no sense. There was a fire. Why would we stay here? We would die. The flames were spreading rapidly now, the burning smell almost choking me. We stopped at the window, one I recognised.

"You're special. Very special." It was my turn to stare as he feverishly gave me a boot up and out of the window. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed to crawl through to the higher grassy ground. I turned back to Dr Samuel to offer him a hand, but he was just shouting at me over the roar of the fire. "Go far, far away. As far as possible. That is the only advice I can offer you." It had never really struck me that Dr Samuels wore an odd bracelet. It was made of woven leather and wood, pieces of ivory entwined between. He wiped his face, his hands smudging the soot on his face. "I wish you luck." He closed the window.

Selective memory.

Selective visions.

Sometimes, things worked both ways. "No!" I was screaming, as a loud crash resounded. "NO!" Why would he do that? Did he know something I didn't? Why would anyone do that? Why would they save a life, and risk their own? I didn't know if I could do that. "No!" What I did know was that I was not the kind of girl let people die for me. I tried to pry the window open, but he had sealed it shut. It would not budge. My fingers bled, but I didn't care. Still the windows didn't budge.

I sat and cried, stumbling along the woods, mourning the death of a man I had known for a few hours. Why would he do that, why would he- I looked up. I was lost, lost in this jungle. There were shouts from far far away, and I froze, turning around. It was the sound of joy. Every cell in my body told me so.

Throb.

Blurred smiling faces. Four of them.

Throb.

Me and Jasper and three of those people.

Throb.

My breath hitched at this image. It was...beautiful. It was heaven, I was sure of it. This was my happily ever after.

These images were different, less sharp. I couldn't make out details, only that in those pictures, I was happy. No, Jasper and I were happy. Caught up in the moment, I crashed back down to earth, as soon as the shouts faded away, and I ran. Ran and ran towards my happy ending. I ran until my lungs burnt and my legs could run no longer. The voices had faded away now, but I was on a path. It wasn't a formal path, just a worn away dirt one. I could tell that many people had been here before. It didn't take a lot of imagination to why those people I had seen were here. Holiday.

I looked up at the bare trees, revelling in the crunch of red leaves under my one-size-too big trainers. Crunch, crunch, crunch. I didn't remember ever feeling this free, this happy. It was a nice feeling, like all happy feeling were. I skipped along the path. I couldn't remember my childhood, so I'd enjoy it now. The end of the path lead to me a large gravelly square.

Interesting.

There were many families here. My heart ached a little as I remembered that vision of happiness. The six of us. I liked that. Humming as I passed the caravans and campers, I skipped in and out of the people, trying to catch glimpses of the same people I had seen in my vision. And then I saw it. He was jaw dropping. Gorgeous. Nothing compared to my Jasper, but still. I was a girl after all – I had both hormones and eyes. Then the other boy joined him. If I didn't have Jasper, I would have fainted.

Yum yum.

They were obviously related, both having the same kind of pallor. My head throbbed and my vision sharpened.

I took another step towards them, but another throb halted me mid-step. A new vision now. It had changed. The future had changed. The detail was still there, but Jasper had vanished.

I stopped, taking one last longing look at the drool and a bit worthy pair. Without Jasper, there was no happily ever after. I was sure of that, even though I had never met him.

I took one step back and my head throbbed once more. Another flash. Jasper was back, and he was smiling too.

It was the image of his lips, pulled into a grin, his golden eyes shining with happiness that I fell asleep to, under the stars.


	5. Chapter 5

Birds were annoying. It was true. Birds were annoying. Especially when they were chirping at a very ungodly hour. I opened my eyes. Oh. It was daytime. Okay, maybe birds were not stupid. I took it back.

Today, I had learnt something new. I was not a morning person. Monosyllables suited me just fine in the morning. Cool. Water.

A stream was nearby. It was clear, so safe to drink. Survival 101.

"Refreshing." It was nice to think in words longer than one syllable. I drank a bit more, as my stomach rumbled. Hungry.

And here I was thinking that I water was cool. If it reminded me of the fact that I hadn't eaten since I had woken up, the water was most certainly not cool.

Oh God. Hunger was making me delirious. Yesterday, I had learnt that hunger was not good. Primitive instincts told me that. I hadn't seen a single living person for days. I had however, seen living things. Had to catch, bu t rewarding, even if their blood on my clothes was hard to wash off.

I wondered what Jasper would think.

I wasn't sure where I was, or where I was heading, but my feet seemed to know. The leaves crunched under my feet, and then the grass gave way to my weight. Still i continued, stopping only for sleep and water. It was a long time before the woods became something else. A road.

As I stood stupidly by the road side, cars drove past, zooming away, away to an unknown place. I looked left and right, wondering which way to take, when I saw him. he was beautiful (but no Jasper) despite his muddy coat and tattered mane. He was thinner than I was, more out of place. Unlike me, he was scared.

"Don't be scared." I crooned, holding out a hand. He shied away.

"Don't..."

Throb.

Me riding on him, off into the sunset.

I titled my head, my eyes looking into the windows of his soul. My hand came forward again. "I won't hurt you."

His warm wet tongue darted out, licking my fingers. I smiled. "What's your name?" He looked at me, big brown eyes understanding, but not able to answer. "I'll give you one." He whinnied softly. The image of us riding off flashed to mind. "Freedom." If horses could smile, Freedom would have.

"Freedom."

It was agreed. I was glad. Freedom was a nice name, and so went with his pretty eyes, full of hope. I remembered that look, long ago, a look of love. I think I looked like that sometimes, when I thought of him. My lips smiled, cracking in happiness.

"Come on." I realised i was mad, having just escaped from an asylum, and then talking to animals, but I figured that people had done much worse. Besides, i was a girl on a mission. "Let's get going."

Throb.

A sign plate, emblazoned with two letters, lit garishly. It was fun, in a sort of tacky way. L.A.

Freedom whinnied, as I jumped and jumped, eager to get on. "It's not funny." I grumbled. He was simply too tall. Or i was too short. As if. The thought was snorted away. "Freedom, over here boy." I guided him to the fence, balancing on the first wooden beam. It was solid, so it held me pretty well. As I swung one log over Freedom, and held onto his neck, we galloped off to the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Throb.

Jasper was holding my hand.

Hold on golden eyes. I was coming.


End file.
